Rare World Find in Croatia’s Velebit Caves

A team of scientists from the Croatian Biospeleological Society have found the deepest underground centipede in caves in the Velebit mountain range in Croatia…

The centipede, which measures around 2.2 to 2.8cm in length and has powerful jaws and poison glands, was found up to 1,100 metres underground. The creature has been named Geophilus hadesi, after Hades, the god of the underworld in Greek mythology.

It is believed that the centipede is only one of two that spends its complete life underground.

“Finding remarkable animals like a centipede walking on cave walls more than half a mile underground is a reminder that there is still a vast amount of basic biodiversity discovery to be made even in Europe,” Dr Greg Edgecombe, Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum in London and a co-author of the study, told the Daily Mail (click on link for photo).